Eric and Hailey both rushed to the front door. A black sports car roared up the short drive from the basement garage onto the street with a woman at the wheel. Where was Farrell?
“I’m guessing that was Deirdre.”
Hailey nodded. “We need to finish clearing the house. Then we can get a BOLO out on Deirdre. Farrell could still be in here.”
Eric followed her upstairs. The “be on the lookout” order was already out for Farrell, but if Deirdre knew where he was, finding her could be the quickest route to the escaped fugitive.
And yet, Hailey still wanted to find the fugitive all by herself. Of all the partners the task force could have assigned him, Eric was stuck with Hailey. She wasn’t the only marshal with something to prove, that was for sure. But couldn’t he have been paired up with someone who actually respected the rules? That must have been too much to ask for.
It just proved how far Eric had fallen. With his rank of inspector stripped, he was now a plain old deputy again, demoted through no fault of his own. Clinging to the bottom rung, he got routinely stepped on by the more senior members of the team on their way to the boss’s fancy coffeemaker. He was stuck with what they all saw as the weak link—the firecracker none of them had ever been able to bring in line. Why couldn’t she do what she was told?
Eric should have guessed when he saw her red hair. She wore it tied back all the time, like she was trying to tame her own nature, but little wisps of it always hung around the sides of her face. He supposed some might call her pretty, but he’d found her attitude eclipsed the understated way she dressed. Maybe she should work on toning down her personality.
The front bedroom was clear, as was the bathroom. Two toothbrushes were on the counter by the sink and the toilet seat was up. Hailey entered the rear bedroom first. A mattress on the floor in the corner looked to have been used recently.
The floor was covered with papers, photos and reports. All of their personnel files. Everything Farrell’s assault team needed to know about the four marshals who were supposed to have transferred him to that plane.
Hailey dug down and pulled out a map of the airfield. “They knew everything. Who we were, when we’d be there...all of it. Farrell has information on all of us.”
Eric shook his head. “Why would he still need it now? I figured he’d split town first thing, but he’s been staying here all week with this? Why?”
Hailey lifted a photo of a little girl and her whole body tightened. A picture of her daughter? The girl had Hailey’s green eyes and red hair. He knew from the guys she had a child.
Eric set his hand on her shoulder. “Easy.”
Hailey stepped away. “I’m fine.”
Eric sighed. She was going to pretend finding that here didn’t mean anything? “You’re allowed to have a reaction, Hailey. Take a minute, and when you’re good we’ll get back to work.”
“So I have a daughter. It doesn’t mean I need any special concessions.” She glanced out the window. “The team will be here in a minute. We should get downstairs.”
Thunder rumbled across the sky, reverberating in his chest like a bass guitar cranked up to ten. The day had suddenly flipped from work to personal.
All he wanted was to punch in, do his job, and then punch out at the end of the day. Not that going home to an empty apartment and all the stuff he hadn’t unpacked yet was all that great, but Eric didn’t much want to be chasing scum all day, running down outstanding warrants and hauling in criminals like some glorified trash collector, either.
The guys on the team thought they were so tough, going after criminals on a daily basis. And the crazy part was Hailey wanted to be exactly like them. As if being “one of the guys” was something to aspire to. Witness protection hadn’t just been a step up from this, career-wise—it had been a calling, and he’d loved every minute of it. Eric didn’t want to live in the past, but it was hard when he’d left behind so much.
Bye, bye dream job. Hello, hick town, Oregon.
He needed to succeed at fugitive apprehension, but he wasn’t going to sacrifice his heart and soul to do it. Not if he could help it. Eric couldn’t let it consume him the way WITSEC had.
It was too risky, because if it went wrong, he’d end up right back in those days after Sarah’s accident, when she didn’t want to see him because she thought he couldn’t love her anymore just because she was paralyzed. So she’d pushed him away, despite all his attempts to convince her he still loved her. Eventually Eric had been forced to face the fact she didn’t want him anymore.
He couldn’t let himself go there again. Not if he could help it. He just had to keep everything compartmentalized. Then there wouldn’t be any risk of getting in too deep.
Find Farrell, and keep his feelings out of it.
* * *
Hailey heard the sirens before the stream of cars tore around the corner onto Deirdre’s street and pulled up outside the house.
Hailey took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders as the pack of marshals climbed out of their cars into the rain. Their jackets and ball caps dampened fast, and she could barely distinguish the patter of rain from the stomp of boots up the front walk.
“Farrell might have been staying here since he escaped. We’re not sure.”
Jonah actually looked impressed for a second, like maybe Hailey had done something of note. The forty-something’s graying hair gave him a distinguished air, but she’d seen him cuff a four-hundred-pound biker without breaking a sweat.
The look of approval disappeared as fast as it had come when she told Jonah what they’d found.
“Not good.” His eyes darkened. “Looks like Princess Phelps has some explaining to do.”
Hailey nodded. This should have been a quick interview, a chance to bring new information to the team. Now someone—not Hailey—was going to have to tell Deirdre’s father she was wanted for questioning. For harboring a dangerous fugitive, no less.
Hailey checked her watch. One hour until Kerry caught the bus home and went to her dad’s for the weekend.
“Running late for something?”
She shot Parker a glance and scowled. “I’m focused. That’s how I found all this.”
Jonah stepped in front of her. “Parker, get upstairs and take a look.”
Hailey smirked, but Jonah turned and caught the look on her face. “They’re never going to warm to you if you don’t play nice.”
“It’s been four years since I joined the team. I figure if it hasn’t happened by now...”
Maybe their razzing her was their idea of respect. That was possible. But still, Hailey didn’t like double standards.
“Besides, why do I have to be the one that’s nice? Maybe they should go first.”
Jonah sighed. “Why does my job feel more like babysitting than federal law enforcement? And I’m not just talking about the criminals.”
